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White House: Biden Spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu Today; 10 Aid Trucks Pass from Egypt into Gaza Through Rafah Crossing; "Friends" Actor, Matthew Perry Dead at 54. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 29, 2023 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. I am Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta alongside my colleague, Jim Sciutto in Israel.

Jim, we will get to you in a moment. We begin with the situation on the ground in Gaza, where the humanitarian crisis is growing and there are new warnings about the risk of fighting spilling onto other parts of the Middle East.

Earlier today, President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Their conversation comes as US National Security adviser Jake Sullivan warns there is an elevated risk of the conflict expanding into other parts of the region. Sources tell CNN the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow about Israel's ongoing ground invasion.

Israeli troops continue to advance in what officials call the second stage of the war. The IDF says its airstrikes hit more than 450 Hamas targets in just the last day including command centers, observation posts, and missile launch sites.

And today, dramatic scenes from Gaza's second largest hospital. The Palestinian Red Crescent says nearby Israeli shelling has caused extensive damage even as 12,000 Gaza civilians are currently sheltering there.

Desperation is sinking in for many civilians still trapped across Gaza. The main UN agency there says thousands of people broke into some of its warehouses, stealing critical supplies as the Israeli bombardment continues.

At the same time, more humanitarian aid is slowly trickling into Gaza. Today, 10 aid trucks were able to pass through the Rafah border crossing, and communications in Gaza have been partially restored.

Let's go to Jim Sciutto on the ground there in northern Israel -- Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO CNN HOST AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, to those concerns about this conflict expanding, one of those potential new fronts, the northern border here, Israel's northern border with Lebanon where Hezbollah forces and Israeli forces have been exchanging fire with regularity multiple times a day, my team and I found ourselves in the middle of that fire today, artillery fire from Hezbollah and other fighters inside Lebanon, targeting Israel. Israeli forces firing back and concerns throughout about ground incursions by Hezbollah fighters.

They've tried before in recent days and weeks intercepted by Israeli forces. There were concerns again today. My team and I stopped on a road blocked in both directions as there were concerns of another ground incursion. We've heard those shells flying over our head, as it happened. That's the north.

Of course, Israel has been expanding its ground operations in the south, in Gaza, for the last 48 hours, and just outside of Gaza is where we find my colleague, Jeremy Diamond. He is in Ashkelon.

Jeremy, I know that our vision inside Gaza is limited, and our sense of the extent of Israeli operations coming in part really from the IDF and what it chooses to tell us about it, but can you give us a picture as to what we know now about those expanded ground operations inside Gaza and how far they've gone into Gaza?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, we don't have an exact sense of how far they have stretched into northern Gaza. We know that the operations -- the ground operations appear to be limited to northern Gaza. Beit Hanoun is one of the towns on the northeastern edge of Gaza that Israeli forces appear to be targeting, but how far exactly, we do not yet know and that appears to be intentional.

We just heard from the IDF spokesman, Rear Admiral Hagari, who declined to say exactly where IDF troops are operating for operational security reasons, but what he did make clear is as we are now more than 48 hours into these expanded ground operations that fights are -- fighting is continuing between Hamas militants and IDF troops and that these operations are going to continue to expand, not only on the ground, but also with airstrikes continuing to intensify.

We know that in the second day of this expanded ground operation, the IDF struck 450 targets according to the IDF, including command centers, observation post, missile launch sites, and of course that underground -- those underground tunnels that Hamas fighters use to operate beneath Gaza.

What we also know from Admiral Hagari, the IDF spokesman, he really emphasized today the extent to which they are going to go after Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip saying that they will chase him until we reach him. He didn't make clear whether the intent there is to kill or capture him, but he did put a renewed focus today on going after Hamas' top leader in the Gaza Strip and effectively putting the blame on him for the rising civilian death toll that we are seeing inside of Gaza.

Altogether, nearly 8,000 people, Jim, have been killed inside the Gaza Strip since this operation began three weeks ago, and of those 8,000 people, the Palestinian Ministry of Health says that 73 percent, nearly three quarters of people who are killed belong to vulnerable populations, including children, women, and elderly individuals.

[15:05:14]

Now, amid this rising civilian death toll, the IDF is once again encouraging civilians inside of Gaza, in the northern half of the Gaza Strip to move south, but of course, what we do know, Jim is that even in southern Gaza, civilians have not been immune to the violence. We have watched as the IDF has continued to carry out strikes, including in the south, although the overwhelming majority of their operations does seem to be focused on the northern half of the Gaza Strip -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes, the sad fact is, those civilians trapped in Gaza blocked on one end by Israeli military action and in the south by continuing negotiations as yet without resolution to allow some of them to leave Gaza for safer quarters.

Our Jeremy Diamond in Ashkelon, thanks so much.

Well, it may seem like long ago, but it's not. Just a little over three weeks since those horrible attacks on October 7th, and the person who is about to join me was involved in the immediate response in the aftermath of that attack, trying to save lives in the midst of the many, many hours of violence from the Hamas attack on October 7th.

He is Ari Yonatan with the Israeli ambulance service.

Ari, thanks so much for joining us this Sunday evening.

ARI YONATAN, PARAMEDIC, MAGEN DAVID ADORN: Thank you for having me and giving me the opportunity to tell our story.

SCIUTTO: Let me begin there with events that day, because you were not only responding to those attacks, you were suffering as well, personally, because you lost your partner, one of those killed on that day. Can you describe what you saw, and what you're feeling now these three weeks later?

YONATAN: Yes, I can explain to you.

First of all, more than one partner. One of them -- more than one friends, unfortunately, far too many losses we suffered.

So I first of all, would like to just dedicate this interview to their memory, it should be for a blessing.

What happened on October 7th was as follows. It was a holiday morning, it didn't seem anything out of the ordinary. At around six o'clock, 6:30 in the morning, we begin hearing booms, explosives.

At the beginning, I didn't think too much of it because we live here in southern Israel and we're used to flare ups every now and again. I look outside, I see the intensity of the attacks are more than a normal flare up.

So I opened up my phone, I called my dispatcher and just to let him know that I'm available if I'm needed for anything, and he tells me immediately report to the station. There are casualties, dead, injured everywhere and more than 300 BSS waiting to be responded to, so I began going to the ambulance station to open up the ambulance.

Usually, I work in station a little bit further from my home. I started going there, they ended up calling me and saying don't go to where you normally work because it's under heavy fire. This likely saved my life, because already there were -- the whole city where I normally work was taken over by -- you know, various neighborhoods were taken over by Hamas terrorists who infiltrated from the Gaza Strip.

Throughout the day, we had nonstop casualties everywhere. Everywhere in the entire southern region -- police officers, civilians of all different ages, soldiers -- it was a day of complete chaos and a day of complete destruction.

SCIUTTO: So Ari, many thousands of Israelis were injured that day, in addition to the more than 1,400 who lost their lives. Can you give us a sense of the status of those who were injured today? How many are recovering? How many continue to suffer through horrible life-changing injuries.

YONATAN: So the extent of the injuries are very, very high. We're talking about things that we don't normally see on a normal basis.

Unfortunately, terrorist attacks and violent crime isn't something that Israel is a stranger to. We deal with it daily. However, the fact that so many terrorists were able to succeed in infiltrating our borders and completely massacring various villages here in the region, that's something that's never been experienced and never been seen.

[15:10:06]

The degrees to which the injuries varied, like I said, many -- many have died, many were tortured. Many were raped. Many were abused. Many were abducted.

You were talking shooting attacks, being burned alive, being hit with shrapnel from a grenade at point-blank. We're talking about limbs being amputated. We're talking about people being injured from rockets that were just shot indiscriminately into civilian areas.

You know, things that are so on an unimaginable. If a human being can possibly imagine what the worst that they could possibly imagine, if it was done, it was probably done at the hands of the Hamas terrorists.

SCIUTTO: No, I understand. You must be watching events inside Gaza and be sad to see civilian suffering there as well. Part of the work you do is responding and helping people in times of need, particularly when they suffer the kinds of injuries that we see in war, some of the most horrible injuries you could see.

I wonder what your thoughts are as you look across the border into Gaza.

YONATAN: As I look across the border into Gaza -- look, I'm a good human being. I belong to the state of Israel. I belong to the Jewish people. We're a nation that values life, that values justice, that values, goodness, and light over evil.

Many times I've had patients in my own ambulance, which who were civilians from Gaza who obtained work permits to work here and as any human being, we give them Grade A service and treat them as any human being.

That being said when their own government is forcing them to stay put, even though they're told by the Israeli Defense Forces to move to southern Gaza where they can take refuge while the military, the Israeli Army conducts their military operations in an attempt to rid the Gaza Strip from the iron rule of Hamas. If the Hamas terrorists are forcing him to stay put and are using them as human shields, then any loss of civilian life or any innocent life, as sad as it might be, it is at -- the blood is on the hands of the Hamas terrorists.

And that is why we need to be steadfast in what we're doing in order to eliminate them and eliminate their rule over Gaza or anywhere else in the world.

SCIUTTO: Well, Ari, I certainly and we certainly appreciate the work you did on that day, October 7th, and continue to do for the many wounded in those horrible attacks, and we wish you luck going forward.

Thanks so much for joining us this afternoon.

YONATAN: Thank you. Thank you for having me. And may God bring us victory.

SCIUTTO: Well, so often in conflict, it is the people, the civilians who get caught in the crossfire and suffer the most.

Joining us now is Tommaso Della Longa. He is with the Red Crescent Society, which is handling the many needs of Gazans now in the midst of the ongoing military operations there by Israel, but also deep, deep shortages of basic necessities.

Tommaso thanks so much for joining us.

TOMMASO DELLA LONGA, RED CRESCENT SOCIETY Good evening, and thanks for having me today.

SCIUTTO: So, first question for you is this. Israel says that it has warned civilians away from the northern part of the country, told them to move south, it'll be safer there. I wonder, based on what you see and what you hear from colleagues on the ground, is that true? Is it any safer in southern Gaza? Is there any safe place -- truly safe place for civilians there now?

DELLA LONGA: Well, I think that is a very good question, and what we're reading from colleagues of the Palestine Red Crescent is that is not really. I mean, there is not really a safe space where to stay in Gaza.

And also, the main problem here is how to move from the north to the south, where to go, and how and where to take -- I don't know -- humanitarian assistance, food, water, or medical assistance. So I think that the main point here is that the people in Gaza is

really living a situation of confusion where they don't know exactly what to do and how to survive the situation.

SCIUTTO: Tommaso, there is discussion now of how to get people out of Gaza while ongoing military operations are underway by Israel.

Jake Sullivan, the US National Security adviser told my colleague, Jake Tapper earlier this morning that in terms of them leaving, going out via Egypt, that really, it is Hamas standing in the way. Hamas has made demands, not just for the release of hostages, but also to allow them to cross that border.

[15:15:18]

But there are also questions about Egypt's role here. Will it allow large numbers of Gazans to leave? From your perspective, who is standing in the way of getting Gazans to safe harbor outside of Gaza right now?

DELLA LONGA: I think that it's more complicated than pointing the finger to one or another. I think that it is kind of a very complicated situation. It's a kind of joint effort between different parties and stakeholders to get to civilians what they need, and we are not seeing these only in the Gaza Strip today. I mean, we have been seeing these in many different contexts around the world.

So this is why since the beginning, I mean, we have been calling on all the parties, all the stakeholders, all the people who can put pressure on different stakeholders, even at the regional level to make sure that first civilians can reach safety. Second, that humanitarian aid can enter in Gaza Strip in a continuous way, not a couple of trucks every other day.

And also third, this is very important to say that under international humanitarian law, civilians are respected if they decide to flee, but also if they decide to stay, because at the end, this needs to be a free decision of every individual. And all the parties needs to do the utmost to spare the suffering of the people.

SCIUTTO: Well, right now, at this point, it seems that all the parties can't come to a simple agreement on a path to safety for those people.

Tommaso, we appreciate the work you're doing with the Red Crescent, and we appreciate you joining us tonight.

DELLA LONGA: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, this is a war with many fronts, certainly Israeli military action against Hamas, but also the civilians caught on the ground there in Gaza and concerns about an expansion of this conflict to Israel's northern border, with Lebanon, where we have seen a great deal of fire exchange today and in recent days.

We'll continue to cover all fronts, all angles of this war. I'm Jim Sciutto in northern Israel, and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:21:28]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

Today, fans and friends of Matthew Perry are paying tribute to the actor who died yesterday at the age of 54.

His career included numerous TV shows and movies, but it's his unforgettable role as Chandler Bing on the hit show "Friends" that made him a household name.

(BEGIN "FRIENDS" VIDEO CLIP)

CHANDLER BING, FICTIONAL CHARACTER: I took the quiz and it turns out, I do put career before men. Get up.

JOEY TRIBBIANI, FICTIONAL CHARACTER: What?

BING: You're in my seat.

TRIBBIANI: How is this your seat?

BING: Because I was sitting there.

TRIBBIANI: But you left?

BING: Well it's not like I went to Spain. I went to the bathroom. You knew I was coming back.

TRIBBIANI: What's the big deal? Sit somewhere else.

BING: The big deal is I was sitting there last. So, that's my seat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: "Friends" co-creators are remembering Perry saying in a joint statement: "We are shocked and deeply, deeply saddened by our beloved friend, Matthew's passing. It still seems impossible. All we can say is that we feel blessed to have had him as part of our lives."

"The LA Times" says Perry was found unresponsive in his hot tub. His body is now at the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office. An autopsy is pending.

Let's bring in CNN' Camila Bernal, who has been covering this story.

Camila, what are you learning?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred.

So we know that the Los Angeles Police Department is still investigating this, but sources have told CNN that no foul play is suspected here.

The 9-1-1 call came in at 4:07 PM, Saturday, local time here in LA, and it was reported as a water rescue emergency. We know that LAPD responded at 4:10 PM and then they characterized it as a death investigation.

As you mentioned, "The LA Times" is calling it an apparent drowning accident. We do not have an official cause of death yet, and it is important to note that usually a full autopsy and toxicology report takes several weeks.

Now, Perry's family did release a statement to "People" Magazine saying that they were heartbroken by the tragic loss of their beloved son and brother.

They went on to say in that statement that he brought joy to the world as an actor, but also as a friend. And look, Matthew Perry wanted to be remembered as someone who helped others. He said that he was sharing his struggles with addiction being so public and candid about it, not just in interviews, but in his memoir, in his November 2022 memoir, being just extremely open about how difficult it was to deal with his addiction.

He said, he wanted to be remembered not just for helping people through the media and his book, but also one-on-one or in groups.

He also said he wanted to be remembered as someone who lived well, someone who loved well, someone who was a seeker. Of course, we do remember him by his acting career. It started out small roles and then he got more prominent roles and of course eventually was cast as Chandler, which is the one role that a lot of us remember him by, that funny, that sarcastic character that made so many people laugh.

The cast of "Friends," very close on and off screen. They famously negotiated their contracts together and became some of the highest paid TV actors at the time. We have yet to hear from the cast, but there are so many others in Hollywood reacting saying they are in shock, they are so sad, devastated, and saying that this is a huge loss for Hollywood and of course for his fans -- Fred.

[15:25:10]

WHITFIELD: Camila Bernal, thanks you so much.

All right, still ahead, concerns for the hostages being held in Gaza as Israel expands its ground operations in the Palestinian enclave.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back, I'm Jim Sciutto in Northern Israel.

We continue to cover Israel at War and there has been an enormous amount of criticism of Israeli military operations inside Gaza, particularly in this region from Israel's Arab neighbors and other places around the world. The US, however, has stood by Israel, its right to defend itself. Today, my colleague Jake Tapper spoke to the US National Security

adviser, Jake Sullivan to press him on whether the US has pressured Israel in any way to limit its operations particularly with civilian casualties inside Gaza in mind, here's how he answered.

[15:30:13]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: We can go back however many years people want, whether they want to start in the Hashemite Kingdom or the Ottoman Empire, or 1948, or 1968, or 1973, or 2000, or 2008, whenever they want to start the conversation, we can start, but if we want to start on October 7th, we can start on October 7th.

And the bottom line is, as long as -- as far as the IDF is concerned, the government of the country next door invaded, killed 1,400 of their citizens and went back and they have a right to take out that government. That's how the IDF sees it. And I get that the Biden administration is on board.

My question is, is the IDF going out -- going about this the right way? Do you think they are going about this the right way?

JAKE SULLIVAN, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: What we believe is that every hour every day of this military operation, the IDF, the Israeli government should be taking every possible means available to them to distinguish between ...

TAPER: And are they?

SULLIVAN: ... Hamas, terrorists who are legitimate military targets, and civilians who are not, and I'm not going to react to every strike, every move that they make. What I'm going to say is that is our principle, that is our advice to them. That is what we are communicating and we continue to do that at the highest levels.

The president will speak again with the prime minister in a few hours' time today, and he will continue to reiterate the United States' position on this issue. It is clear, it is straightforward, and we believe that it is rooted in the fundamental laws of war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: In addition to those conversations, we know that the US sent a former Marine or current Marine general to Israel to advise Israeli military commanders on the operation before it began. And as he left, the Marine Commandant said that Israeli forces took some of the US advice and didn't take some of the US advice as well.

The question is, what their differences are? And are there any differences? Our Kevin Liptak, of course covering the White House, covering the president for us, and Kevin, of course, Jake Sullivan is not going to publicly criticize Israel at this point, but we do know that President Biden himself has been very careful in all of his public comments to express support for Israel, but also express his desire for protecting civilians.

They're meeting the needs of civilians there, but also even looking, longer term, looking for a just outcome to this conflict, including the rights of Palestinians. I wonder, do you sense in your reporting any daylight between US officials and their Israeli counterparts on the conduct of this war so far?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, certainly not in public, as you said, Jim, but it's hard to read into these conversations. You know, there aren't some kind of differences between how these leaders are approaching this crisis. And you certainly cannot look at the pictures on the ground in Gaza and not be affected by what is going on there. And certainly, we have learned that the president has concluded his conversation with Netanyahu.

Jake Sullivan did give sort of an indication of how that conversation would go, but the White House did underscore that as well. In their readout, they said that the president reiterated that Israel has every right to defend itself, but he also underscored the need to do so in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law that prioritized the protection of civilians.

So reading between the lines there, the president is encouraging Israel to make the protection of civilians a priority, and certainly, he is under pressure from the left -- the progressive left in the United States, as well as American-Arab partners, to say more about what's going on in Gaza, to do more to get aid into that country and that we're told is also a topic of discussion with Netanyahu today.

The president underscored the need to immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance. But it is this fine line that the president is walking, trying to hold Israel very close. He is a staunch defender of Israel, talking about Israel's right to defend itself, but in these private conversations, raising what the White House calls these tough questions about the scope of its response to the Hamas attacks, about its objectives, and about its intentions going forward.

And certainly President Biden has his own objectives on the ground, primarily the release of those hostages that are being held by Hamas in Gaza, including the potential for American hostages that are on the ground there.

Jake Sullivan did say today that those talks are progressing. He said that the US has an hourly consultation with regional partners, principally the government of Qatar, which has acted as kind of the broker and all of this.

The US also is working to get out American civilians and other foreign nationals from Gaza. That has been sort of a nonstarter until now. They have not been able to cross the border into Egypt.

[15:35:10]

Sullivan said today that the Egyptians are willing to accept foreign nationals, but the issue right now is Hamas. They are making certain demands that's making it more difficult.

We did learn also today that the president spoke with the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. And those topics were all a matter of discussion between those men as well -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, left unanswered there as to whether the Egyptian government will accept non-foreign nationals, right? Residents of Gaza who were currently attempting to or hoping to flee the ongoing military action there.

Kevin Liptak, thanks so much for covering.

Joining us now is Brett Bruen, he served in the Obama administration. I wonder, Brett, as you watch this, of course, the US-Israeli relationship is a close one, but there are instances through the years I've covered these conflicts for many times where there is advice or pressure that the US gives or applies to Israeli officials, which they do not take.

And I wonder, do you sense that the US here is pushing for more restraint and that Israel is despite that pressure pushing forward?

BRETT BRUEN, PRESIDENT, GLOBAL SITUATION ROOM: Well, I think you need only look at some of the recent actions. One, obviously, the delay in going into Gaza in a full scale way, Israel has held off for now. Additionally, just in the last 24 hours, they restored internet, as well as phone communication. So you can say that the Biden administration is having some influence.

But also, I think we need to moderate our expectations. This is a sovereign country. And as somebody who served in the US Foreign Service for a decade and a half, I think it's important that as Americans, especially in a situation like this responding to a terrorist attack of such a mass scale, we aren't in a position to tell another country how, where, when they should act.

So we also have to understand that the Israelis are entitled to make a lot of these decisions themselves.

SCIUTTO: True. Listen, the US has made many of its own decisions, certainly in how it conducts war across the world, but there are international laws and standards about acting, taking positive action, right, to protect civilian lives, and what is not clear given the scope, particularly of this aerial campaign, I mean, whole apartment blocks collapsing on top of people, right? How does that meet, if not, the requests or demands of the US government? How does that meet international standards, international law?

BRUEN: You're right, Jim, and it goes back to 1907, the Geneva Convention which first enshrined some of these rules of war, and I think that what Israel has done is largely abide by those principles. Now, obviously, you're going to see on the television screen images of the collateral damage, largely because Hamas ensconces itself in those buildings. It sconces its military operations where there are civilians.

SCIUTTO: It is deliberate.

BRUEN: Which in and of itself, is a violation of the Geneva Convention. So, you know, Israel obviously has to operate as we did, whether it was in Mosul or in Kabul, in an environment in which you're dealing with an extremist, a terrorist group that isn't following the rules. So what are they supposed to do, Jim? Are they supposed to just stay back and allow Hamas to operate in those areas?

SCIUTTO: Yes, and I am certainly not suggesting that, but you look at other situations that have some comparison to this, say US operations in Fallujah or Mosul, as you reference, urban areas, there were corridors to allow people out. Now there are, of course, other obstacles in this situation, and that Egypt controls that other border and it is not clear that Egypt wants a large number of Gaza residents to enter its territory.

I should note, the reason I was looking off to my right, as you were speaking, Brad is that I'm hearing booms to the north of me here, the Israeli border with Lebanon in the north and Syria to the northeast is just a number of miles from here, and we're continuing to hear the sounds of artillery fire.

This sounds like outgoing artillery fire, but earlier today, we were up on the northern border where we heard the incoming from Hezbollah -- the Hezbollah side.

To that point, Brett, there has been a great deal of concern that a second front could open in this war, that Hezbollah could make a decision to attack from the north. To date, those attacks have been limited. Are you surprised by that?

BRUEN: I think it's an encouraging sign, and Jim, you raise both the specter of an attack by Iranian backed Hezbollah groups. There's a number of other entities, the Houthis in Yemen who obviously fired off some of those missiles earlier that were taken out by Saudi Air Defense, but bound for Israel.

[15:40:09]

What I do think is important here is that the US continue to apply pressure on regional partners. You brought up the Egyptians, obviously, the Saudi Defense minister is headed tomorrow to meet with Jake Sullivan and other US officials in Washington. They need to be doing more. It is not enough for the Egyptians to have a closed border and to be screaming at the Israelis over the border saying, you know, hold back.

I think, you know, the path to some sort of stabilization, to some sort of solution here runs through Riyadh, it runs through Cairo, and obviously Qatar as well.

SCIUTTO: No question and listen, a lot of those players there, perhaps dubious intentions and motives of their own, kind of with a long-term relationship with Hamas, with the Taliban. It is a witch's brew of dimensions to this conflict as you know better than me.

Brett Bruen, a longtime US diplomat, thanks so much for joining.

BRUEN: Sure thing.

SCIUTTO: And we continue to follow the conflict here in Israel expanded. Israeli military action in Gaza, an increase it seems in attacks on Israel's northern border as well as we've been hearing during this broadcast.

We'll continue to follow both sides of this war, both fronts. Please do stay with us. We'll be back after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:30]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

The Republican race for US president is now a bit smaller while the Democratic field has expanded. On Saturday, former Vice President Mike Pence announced he was suspending his 2024 presidential campaign.

With me now to talk about these developments is Julian Zelizer. He is a CNN political analyst. Good to see you, Julian.

Let's begin with Pence. I mean, he was struggling to raise money and gain traction in the polls. How does his decision to drop out impact the race overall and who might benefit from his departure?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it wasn't a surprise. I mean, he had all the baggage of the Trump presidency. He didn't have any of the political strengths of Trump who is running and he had become a focal point of anger among Trump supporters because of his refusal to go along with not certifying the election.

So I think it narrows the field a bit. I don't think it changes the fundamental dynamics, which is the former president is far ahead in this race. And I think all of the other candidates, even someone like Nikki Haley, are just struggling to get airtime, to get poll time, and to get the kind of money that will be needed to defeat him.

WHITFIELD: So you know, Trump continues to dominate in the national and early state polls for the Republicans. Pence drew the ire of the GOP base when he refused to help Trump overturn the 2020 election and his occasional criticism of Trump didn't help him at all.

So does Pence's departure only further cement that the Republican Party is indeed that of Trumps?

ZELIZER: Yes, I think it does. I think one of the foils of Trump's political persona went down to a pretty quick defeat. Years ago, Pence was considered one of the most possible and exciting Republicans to become president, and this was a quick fall.

So I think it just, you know, confirms the point of where Trump is and where his opponents are. WHITFIELD: Okay, let's shift gears to the Democratic race. On the

Democratic side, President Biden has a new challenger. On Friday, Minnesota congressman, Dean Phillips announced that he is running against Biden for the Democratic nomination. He's not a household name. So what do you make of his decision to make a primary challenge to Biden?

ZELIZER: Well, some of it might be self-interest, meaning by doing this, he has made himself a national name. Here, we are talking about him so he becomes a recognizable Democrat. Part of it is a message he's been talking about now for some time that Democrats need a choice, a candidate who is younger, a candidate who's from a different generation and who is more popular. And so by entering, he is going to be able to make that statement.

But I think it's unclear to many Democrats, frankly, why he is doing this, and he's a Democratic votes pretty loyally with Biden, so it's a younger version of Biden running against Biden himself.

WHITFIELD: Julian Zelizer, we'll leave it there for now. Thanks so much. Great to see you.

ZELIZER: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: We'll have much more on the conflict in the Middle East in a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:53:03]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto in Northern Israel.

Israeli forces have now advanced some two miles on the ground into Gaza as the eyes of the world focus there. Cross border fire on Israel's northern border between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters on the other side of the border in Lebanon has been a daily event. In fact, many times a day.

My team and I, traveling on the border earlier today found ourselves right in the middle of the crossfire with Israeli forces firing mortars and artillery towards Lebanon, Hezbollah firing artillery back towards Israel. It's a dangerous game up there.

Our Ben Wedeman is in Beirut, Lebanon now, and Ben, as you watch this from there, this has been a low-level conflict at the border here but certainly not open war.

Do your sources in Lebanon, do officials there expect Hezbollah to expand military activity on the border? Or do they see Hezbollah as largely sitting out of this conflict for now?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim, officials in Beirut very much do not want to see this conflict broadened beyond the border area, but they don't have an awful lot of control over Hezbollah itself. What we've seen in the area along the border between Lebanon and

Israel is that there is an increased Lebanese Army presence, perhaps trying to at least put up the appearance of trying to have some control over the area. But what we've seen since the 8th of October, the day after Hamas' surprise attack on Israel, that there have been daily -- there has been daily fire from Lebanon into Israel and of course, Israel responding.

Today, this afternoon, there was a series of fire incidents along the border. Hezbollah claims to have shot down an Israeli drone with a surface-to -air missile. Another group known as Jemaah Islamiyah, the Islamic group which we believe is a Lebanese Sunni group affiliated with Hamas, fired rockets in the direction of the Israeli community of Qiryat Shemona. The Israelis responded with an airstrike in that incident.

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So, it does appear that it's going along at this level, that certainly keeps tensions high, but isn't quite yet dragging Lebanon into a war most Lebanese really do not want to see. I was here in 2006, and saw how much destruction resulted from Israeli bombardment in the south of the country. And here in Beirut, there is very little desire among most Lebanese to see any sort of repeat of that -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: No question. I was on this side of the border in 2006, of course, when Israeli forces did cross, they had serious losses. It shows that each side faces dangers, with the prospect of an expansion of this war onto another front.

Our Ben Wedeman in Beirut, Lebanon, who will continue to cover this war from that side of the border.

And we continue to cover the war in Israel on every front as well as the plight of civilians inside Gaza, which continues as negotiations are underway not just for the release of hostages, for the possibility of some humanitarian corridor out of Gaza in the midst of this war.

I'm Jim Sciutto in northern Israel, we will be back after a short break.

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